LOCKSS

The LOCKSS ("Lots of Copies Keep Stuff Safe") project, under the auspices of Stanford University, is a peer-to-peer network that develops and supports an open source system allowing libraries to collect, preserve and provide their readers with access to material published on the Web. Its main goal is digital preservation. The system attempts to replicate the way libraries do this for material published on paper. At its founding in 1999, it was designed for scholarly journals, but is now also used for a range of other materials. Examples include the SOLINET project to preserve theses and dissertations at eight universities, US government documents, and the MetaArchive Cooperative program preserving at-risk digital archival collections, including Electronic Theses and Dissertations (ETDs), newspapers, photograph collections, and audio-visual collections. A similar project called CLOCKSS (Controlled LOCKSS) "is a tax-exempt, 501(c)(3), not-for-profit organization, governed by a Board of Directors made up of librarians and publishers." CLOCKSS runs on LOCKSS technology.

The LOCKSS ("Lots of Copies Keep Stuff Safe") project, under the auspices of Stanford University, is a peer-to-peer network that develops and supports an open source system allowing libraries to collect, preserve and provide their readers with access to material published on the Web. Its main goal is digital preservation. The system attempts to replicate the way libraries do this for material published on paper. At its founding in 1999, it was designed for scholarly journals, but is now also used for a range of other materials. Examples include the SOLINET project to preserve theses and dissertations at eight universities, US government documents, and the MetaArchive Cooperative program preserving at-risk digital archival collections, including Electronic Theses and Dissertations (ETDs), newspapers, photograph collections, and audio-visual collections. A similar project called CLOCKSS (Controlled LOCKSS) "is a tax-exempt, 501(c)(3), not-for-profit organization, governed by a Board of Directors made up of librarians and publishers." CLOCKSS runs on LOCKSS technology. ==Problem== Traditionally, academic libraries have retained issues of scholarly journals, either individually or collaboratively, providing their readers access to the content received even after the publisher has ceased or the subscription has been canceled. In the digital age, libraries often subscribe to journals that are only available digitally over the Internet. Although convenient for patron access, the model for digital subscriptions does not allow the libraries to retain a copy of the journal. If the publisher ceases to publish, or the library cancels the subscription, or if the publisher's website is down for the day, the content is no longer available. ==Importance== In addition to preserving access, libraries have traditionally made it difficult to rewrite or suppress printed material. The existence of an indeterminate but large number of identical copies on a somewhat tamper-resistant medium under many independent administrations meant that attempts to alter or remove all copies of a published work would likely both fail and be detected. Web publishing, based on a single copy under a single administration, provides none of these safeguards against subversion. Web publishing is, therefore, an amenable tool for rewriting history. By preserving many copies under diverse administration, by automatically auditing the copies at intervals against each other (and, in the future, against the publisher's copy), and by alerting libraries when changes are detected, the LOCKSS system attempts to restore many of these safeguards in the now digital world of publication. ==Implementation== Prior to implementing a LOCKSS system, some questions need to be considered carefully in order to make sure the content is verified, evaluated, and auditable by users. The user must ask questions such as, "What are your procedures?", "What are your methods?", "How is this system evaluated?", and "What is your disaster preparedness program?". These questions will enable the user to evaluate the system, create a successful maintenance plan for their materials, and enable the system to be reinforced by a carefully evaluated support structure. The source code for the entire LOCKSS system carries BSD-style open-source licenses and is available from GitHub. LOCKSS is a trademark of Stanford University. ==See also== Clock of the Long Now Digital library Digital preservation National Digital Information Infrastructure and Preservation Program Portico (service) == Further reading== ==External links== LOCKSS (YouTube video, June 2007) LOCKSS Part I: Why Libraries Should Care About LOCKSS (YouTube video, December 2007) CLOCKSS, "Controlled LOCKSS", a federated global (vice local) LOCKSS archive

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